Tougenkyou Royale
by kyuuketsuneko
Summary: AU: jail setting (Gods & youkai still exist though). Sha Gojyo's the kind of guy who's been in and out of jail all of his life, and is perfectly at home in the place. Cho Hakkai looks like he'd be more at home as one of the serving staff. The ever-hungry Son Goku is 'Spiritual Doctor' Sanzo's ward. Ni's in charge of the prison. Why are they all there, and what is Gyokumen planning?


**Summary:** Sha Gojyo's the kind of guy who's been in and out of jail all of his life, and is perfectly at home in the place. Cho Hakkai looks like he'd be more at home as one of the serving staff, so what the heck is a guy like him doing there?

**Disclaimer:** Saiyuki & related media belong to Minekura Kazuya-sensei, or else they would've reached the West ages ago lol.

**Warning:** foul language, implied/vaguely-described gore, reference to rape and liberal use of character-deaths ahead.

* * *

**Chapter 01: Just another day in Tougenkyou prison**

**POV: Gojyo:**

When I first met him, I thought he was part of the cleaning staff.

Mild-mannered, polite, with a single monocle hiding the vibrant green of his eyes, it was only his clothing that said otherwise.

"So," I began, sitting up from my bed with a slouch, "looks like you're my new cellmate."

"It appears so. I'm Cho Hakkai, pleased to meet you…?"

"Gojyo. Sha Gojyo. At your 'service', princess."

"Haha," he chuckled nervously, "I do hope you don't mean that."

He paused. "Literally at least."

"Pfttt!"

I snort. This guy's a riot. Though his confusion's pretty understandable for anyone who hasn't been in prison for long, it seems he's got a reasonable grasp of the basics of prison life.

Rule #1: if you've got a pretty face, then you're probably gonna end up some guy's 'woman'. If you're not much of a fighter, either prepare to die or latch onto a tough guy (who wants a piece of your ass), and do it fast.

Fortunately, despite my gorgeous looks, I _am_ quite a fighter, so no problems there. But I seriously doubt that that's the case with this guy. He pretty much screams 'fuck me' with that pretty face, milky white skin and demure stance.

Urgh.

_Sha Gojyo, think DD cups. Think DD cups. Yes, DD cups._

"…jyo?"

_DD cupssssss! Bouncy, big-_

"Gojyo?!"

Snapping out of my thoughts as the pretty boy's (surprisingly) firm hand shook one of my shoulders, I gave him my least intimidating 'huh? Say that again?' look. I'd like to point that I spend most of my time trying to look _more_ rather than _less_ intimidating, so I deserve a good pat on the back for my attempt.

Not that it mattered.

Man, he looks pissed for someone who's still smiling… wait, is that fire I see behind him?!

"For the third time, I was asking you what you thought about this new prison arrangement."

_Oh. That. Geez. What a greenie_.

I sigh, flopping back to my bed.

"What is there to think?"

He hmm'd a little, putting his loosely-fisted left hand in front of his mouth in a typical musing motion.

"I don't know. But it seems strange."

"…?"

"Think about it. Until now, sections of the prison of different security levels have always been kept apart. But all of a sudden, they're letting everyone out on the surface. Isn't that a bit weird?"

I shrug.

_Does it matter?_

He sighed, eyes closed in an expression which said 'my goodness, you're so silly I don't even know what to do with you'. In a posh British accent of course. Hm. I think I should stop borrowing weird British comedies from Banri.

"Well, the S-floor criminals are now on the surface along with the E-floor ones… don't you think it'll be much easier for lethal fights to break out?"

"Mhmm."

"And you're not worried at all? Or wondering why _they're_ doing this?"

"Who knows?"

He sighed again. "I'm starting to wonder if you even understand the gravity of the situation."

"Hey! Are you saying I'm stupid?"

"No. I certainly implied it though."

Urgh. That irritating smile. I want to punch him, but something inside me refuses to punch this frail-looking, smiling man.

"Hmph. Anyway, I've been in and out of this place all my life. I know how to handle myself. Less can probably be said for you, huh, pretty boy?"

He frowned briefly. I'm not really sure what part of my speech triggered it though. Putting on a smile again, he bade me farewell, good day and left the cell again.

_Seriously? Did he just say 'have a good day'?! In a prison?!_

I seriously don't understand this guy.

But for some reason, I feel like I can't leave him alone.

Maybe it's my sense of responsibility as a sempai?

Ha. Impossible. I'm probably just looking for an excuse to pick up an underling of my own. As much of a brother as Banri is, I _need_ someone to boss around.

Fishing out a certain overused Playboy mag from a slit on the side of my mattress facing the mottled greyish wall, I continued with my usual routine.

_Just another day in Tougenkyou*1 prison._

* * *

**POV: 3****rd**** person/God's eye:**

Tougenkyou prison.

Situated on the island of Shangri-La*2, it occupies 85% of the viable land, with the remaining 15% being allocated to the families of the prison workers, docks and helipads.

The over 100,000 square-kilometre island itself is well-isolated from any other landmass, and, surrounded by deep ocean on all sides, makes escape by swimming an inviable option.

There are no land routes, and cliffs surround most of the island, except for the docking area, where parts of the island were levelled to create a proper docking system.

Most resources (such as prison uniforms, most food and replacements for weaponry) are brought in from the outside, though the prison has its own generator and water-generation supply. There is an agricultural section on the top level of the prison, which is exposed to the surface, though the amount of produce is unable to maintain the whole prison's population for more than a week. It acts mainly as an emergency supply in case the imported supplies are late.

Speaking of the 'levels' of the prison, almost all the prison is underground, appearing somewhat like an upside down tower with the most pointed end at the deepest level. The floors are arranged as so:

Ground floor: 'recreational centres', agricultural centres, generation plant, etc.

1st floor underground: "E-floor": for E-ranked criminals.

2nd floor underground: "D-floor": for D-ranked criminals.

3rd floor underground: "C-floor": for C-ranked criminals.

4th floor underground: "B-floor": for B-ranked criminals.

5th floor underground: "A-floor": for A-ranked criminals.

6th floor underground: "S-floor": for S-ranked criminals.

As the names imply, the criminals are divided in terms of the severity of their crime as well as the 'danger' they pose to others:

E-ranked criminals primarily consist of petty, non-violent criminals like conmen and fraudsters.

D-ranked criminals are usually petty, violent criminals like thieves and some armed robbers. Small-time drug-dealers tend to fall into this category, while their bosses may be C-ranked.

C-ranked criminals begin to include more violent criminals like rapists and those who have caused grievous injury, assault or manslaughter.

B-ranked criminals are all those charged with murder (& manslaughter) but not much else.

A-ranked criminals include war criminals, mass murderers, terrorists, murderers with special tendencies (e.g. dismembering, skinning or eating their victims), and so on so forth.

And S-ranked criminals… well, the criterion for them is unknown to the public. The only common knowledge is that there are only four S-ranked criminals in this behemoth prison which houses _all_ of the captured criminals in the world.

Indeed – in this world of youkais, humans and gods, there is only _one_ prison: Tougenkyou prison.

Its isolation from the world makes it easy for the masses to forget about the monsters that lurk here, and when the idea of this super-prison was proposed, they gave their full support for this bizarre project. The gods too, supported this development of this prison system since it meant that 'all of the world's trash was gathered in one place' and that it made it easier for them to keep an eye on things. Furthermore, it became a convenient place for them to dump certain failed experiments and troublesome gods that they couldn't quite kill without angering someone here and there. Naturally, different religious sectors found it beneficial for their causes, one way or another, and construction businesses were almost on their knees begging for the project to go ahead.

And so, this prison, a project supported by the power of the gods, the beliefs of religious sects, the joy of the masses and the funding of all of the ruling bodies of the world, was built. And so it stands. And so it has stood… for the last 500 years.

But all of that is about to change. No, it _is_ already changing.

And the one responsible for this, was, without a doubt, the Head Psychologist: Ni Jianyi. Formerly a priest (Ukoku Sanzou), Dr. Ni appeared out of the blue at the prison with an equally abruptly-appearing Head Warden, the 'Fallen Princess', Gyokumen Koushu. As beautiful as she is ruthless, her past is a well-documented tragedy.

Born to her small-time-king of a father as the 31st princess, 183rd in line to the throne, she was a product of a loveless political marriage. Her mother loathed her, for even at a young age, she surpassed her in beauty. But being a pretty wallflower was not enough for the princess. She wanted power. She wanted respect. She wanted love. And she was going to get those things whether the world liked it or not.

And so with blood, sweat and tears, she tirelessly pursued her goal. She was talented in many things, ranging from the harp to fencing, but her ultimate skills bloomed after she hit puberty: seduction and manipulation. And so she honed these skills, and sought a path which would lead to everything she ever dream of.

And eventually, she found it.

With her abilities, the youkai princess seduced Gyumaoh, the infamous Ox Emperor, and earned herself a place at his side as a prized concubine. But that was all she could be, for the Ox Emperor believed in monogamy (at least in terms of marriage) and was already claimed by another.

**Ratsetsunyo**.

Mother to Prince Kougaiji, a charismatic young youkai who had long won over the love of all of his father's subjects with a chivalrous nature that dictated that he should not usurp his father's throne, Ratsetsunyo was the subject to Gyokumen's intense loathing and assassination attempts.

But alas, these attempts failed. However, the final attempt rendered the Empress in a coma, and, ironically it was only the dark magic of Gyokumen which could keep her alive. Ordered by Gyumaoh to keep his wife alive, Koushu gritted her teeth and obeyed, waiting for the day where Ratsetsunyo would die, and she would become Empress.

But soon, the gods saw fit to put down Gyumaoh, the undisputable Emperor of Youkai. And so they sent down Nataku Taishi to do the job. And the job he did.

And thus, the reign of the Emperor of Youkai came to an end 500 years prior to our story. The kings that ruled returned to ruling their own states independently, and Gyokumen fell out of favour with Lady Fortune. It was then that she earned the moniker, the 'Fallen Princess'. At the same time, Prince Kougaiji disappeared. Some believed that he abandoned his position to live. Others claimed that his jealous step-mother killed him in the chaos. But there was no doubt as to what came next.

Within six months of Gyumaoh's death, Princess Lirin was born. Child of Gyokumen and Gyumaoh, she was the only viable heir to the throne of the Ox Emperor which was destroyed by the gods. But a certain Centipede King could not accept this – how could he, he, a King ruling for almost a millennium, be ordered around by a little newborn girl?! It was unacceptable!

And so, he, and several hundred other Kings went on a hunt for the princess.

A hunt that lasted over a century. And eventually she was killed, her mother made into a plaything for the Kings and the Fallen Princess fell further into the darkness.

And then, over 300 years later, came Ukoku Sanzou.

Like a raven. A crow. A bringer of death. And like ashes to ashes and dust to dust, the youkai vanished before him as if thrown into a void.

When asked about the even later, he would simply say that he was taking a walk, and those Youkai Kings were obstructing his path, so he wondered what it'd be like to kick them aside. He was strange fellow, but none could deny his power.

And, again, drawn by the scent of power and the hope that she could reclaim her former glory, the fallen, tainted Princess took him as a lover. And for ten years, the strange, dark pair could not be found.

Until they reappeared, a mere year ago, as the new Head Warden and Head Psychologist of the Tougenkyou prison.

Who knows what strings they pulled to get there, and why they chose to reappear?

* * *

On a completely different part of the continent, several different tragedies were unfolding.

One involved an orphan thrown into a river. His Master. A band of youkai.

Another, a berserk sage. The Gods. His friends.

And yet another, a school-teacher. His sister. The Centipede King which brought upon the death of Princess Lirin.

And finally, a hybrid runt. His brother. His step-mother.

All of these stories, these people, these youkai, hanyou, humans and gods found themselves drawn into the disaster unfolding in Tougenkyou.

* * *

**Medical building: E-floor:**

"SAAAANZOOUUU! Can I eat this? Can I? Can I?"

*SMACK*

The harisen*3 whipped through the air fast enough to make a 'vwoosh' sound before connecting with a brunette's head.

"Silence, stupid monkey. I'm working."

Glasses perched on a stern nose in front of droopy, purple eyes. A monk's robe half-worn on top of a form-fitting, sleeveless black undershirt and fetishistic black gloves. Genjo Sanzo, the resident "Spiritual Doctor on Duty", clearly has fashion sense cannot be described as anything but quaint.

"BUT SAAAAANNNNZOOOOUUUUU-!"

Of course, his choice in company perhaps, is even odder. Mousy brown hair spiked up in a lazy shounen-esque style, with golden eyes and a matching diadem, Son Goku looked like the last person on earth that someone like Sanzo would spend his time with.

But alas, spend his time with the monkey he did.

Despite his tsundere-esque attitude to the boy, he found that the idiotic brunette knew all the ways to trigger his paternal instincts. And also knew how to take advantage of this.

Urgh. That puppy-dog look.

Torn between smacking the kid and letting him have his way by giving him a peach, his momentary hesitation had been enough for Goku to grab the basket of freshly-picked peaches from his table and run off with them.

"STUPID MONKEY! GET BACK HERE!" roared the enraged blonde, who finally decided on 'smacking', or rather –

*BANG BANG BANG*

Shooting.

… _Just another day in Tougenkyou prison._

* * *

**Time: Monday: 2:35 pm:**

"_**Alright, may I have everyone's attention? I'm Mr. Bunny~~!**_**"** rang the falsely-high-pitched voice. Dr. Ni was making an announcement through the PA system. Again. Hopefully he wasn't doing it just to sing happy birthday to some random prisoner again…

"**As you all know, we've allowed all of the prisoners to mingle!"** he announced, in his normal voice. Then, switching back to his 'Mr. Bunny voice':

"_**Mhm! And I hope you've made some good friends**_** – "**

"'**Cause you won't survive if you don't~ right, Mr. Bunny?"**

"_**Indeed! See, you all know about the 'recession' right? It's a bit complicated for me to understand, but point is, we don't have enough money to keep y'all alive…"**_

"**So we're cutting the budget down by having less mouths to feed! In 72 hours, in other words, three days' time, if the prison population hasn't at least halved, we'll be randomly gunning down prisoners until we achieve our GOAL!"**

"_**Happy hunting everyone~**_**"**

"**There aren't any rules, so HAVE FUN~!"**

An uproar. That was the response the response to the announcement. Face tinged a blue hue due to the light from the screens in front of him, Dr. Ni smirked.

_All according to plan_.

* * *

**Footnotes:**

*1 = Tougenkyou was the original Japanese pronunciation they used for Shangri-La.

*2 = Although Tougenkyou & Shangri-La are really the same thing, I'm using Shangri-La to refer to the geographical island and Tougenkyou to refer to the prison. They may be used interchangeably though, since the island effectively is just made up of the prison.

*3 = A harisen's giant a giant paper fan. It's the thing Sanzou uses to smack Goku and Gojyo with all the time.

* * *

**Bonus info:**

For a sense of scale, New Zealand is only around 270,000 square kilometres in land area, and this exceeds the size of the UK (~240,000 square kilometres). UK houses a population of over 63 million and NZ, 4 million. So yes, the prison is colossal. Not to mention it has underground levels. So I think it could fit all of the world's criminals.

Note that most of the land is actually 'uninhabitable' and the prison is only 85% of the habitable land. Nonetheless, it's huge. Also, the underground parts of the prison has an area that's much, much smaller (less than 10%) of the surface area of the prison, which has to fit several generators, farms and related machinery as well as some basic factories. Some of these jobs are manned by level E & D prisoners, but for the most part, are done by hired prison staff for meagre wages.

The problem with a prison of this size is with the logistics of transporting criminals to and fro the prison, the costs associated with maintenance and also the amount of manpower required to keep such a large number of people (who aren't exactly the law-abiding type) under control. So, for the last point, military recruits from all over the world have to serve something akin to an internship as part of the guard force for some times to supplement the prison guards with extra firepower.

But nonetheless, without the organised structure of the E to S-floor rankings, it would be hard to correctly distribute the armed guards around the levels, so what Dr. Ni has done is essentially insane. As usual lol.

For a timeframe reference, the mixing of floors began 3 days ago, with random floors being allowed to mingle and a re-shuffling of cellmates. Hakkai and Gojyo met on the last day of floor-mixing, while Sanzo and Goku met some time before floor-mixing.

* * *

**A/N:** The 'character-POV'd' bits will sound very visual novel-ish. I've decided to try writing in the said style for a bit of fun.

For Gojyo-haters, bear with me. I'll only be using his POV for a while since he's the one that knows the least about what's going on out of the four main protagonists of Saiyuki.

To readers of my other fics, no, I'm not dropping them. This idea just elbowed its way in front of the other ones which I'm still mulling over =w='.


End file.
